Midnight In Hogwarts | Harry Potter FanFiction

Capitulum Viginti-sex

The hospital wing at Hogwarts was completely full for the first time in a long time. Most of the occupants were simply sleeping off emotional distress but there were a fair share of injured. Remus Lupin was recovering from the muscle damage Fenrir Greyback had done to his arm. He would be as good as new in no time. Bill Weasley was still suffering from Greyback's attack on his face and would probably never be the same. Cho Chang had suffered a broken leg and a deep cut across her back but her injuries had already been tended to. She was free to leave the moment she woke. Ernie Macmillan was sleeping off a concussion, Dean Thomas needed a broken collarbone mended and Colin Creevey needed to re-grow a few bones in his arm.

Then there were the two beds shielded from privacy screens.

The farthest bed was still occupied by the body of Albus Dumbledore, covered by a sheet. No one had even attempted to move the body yet, partially because they were still in shock and partially because they didn't know what to do. No one wanted to step forward and make the decision of where Dumbledore's final resting place would be. No one wanted to think of Headmaster Dumbledore having a final resting place.

The next bed housed a teenager who didn't have any severe physical injuries. However, he did have more bandages and was hooked up to more devices than anyone else in the hospital wing. Harry Potter's injuries were almost a summary of his last few years at Hogwarts: physical, emotional and magical exhaustion in addition to a mild concussion. He also had cut and bruises all over his body that had made Madam Pomfrey cringe. To help Harry recover, a needle was inserted into the back of his hand which was connected to a tube running into a large flask containing a blue tinted potion. The potion was a mixture of restorative draughts and nutrient potions developed in the last year to help someone recover quicker from magical and physical exhaustion.

It was also that mixture that allowed Harry to wake before everyone else in the early morning hours. The rays of the pre-dawn sun could be seen in the windows, giving an unusual lighting in the hospital wing. Harry opened his eyes in confusion and blinked tiredly at the blurry area around him. His body screamed in protest as he reached over to the bedside table for his glasses. It seemed to take an incredibly long time to find them since every movement sent an additional spark of pain up his arm and down his spine. Biting back a moan of pain, Harry slid his glasses on and blinked as everything came into focus.

There was a privacy screen to his left and another screen to his right behind a chair that was currently occupied by a sleeping Sirius. Harry stared at his godfather in confusion before the memories of what happened the previous night washed over him. It was so hard to believe that so much could have happened in one night. It was so hard to believe that less than twenty-four hours ago Harry's main focus had been the end of the year exams. Not anymore. Now, Harry was worried about how he was going to survive without Dumbledore in his life. Dumbledore had always been there to help, never criticizing any of the mistakes Harry had made over the years.

Letting out a weary sigh, Harry slowly sat up, wincing every step of the way. His healer training was telling him to listen to his body and remain still but that was the last thing Harry wanted to do. There was absolutely nothing to do in bed other than think which meant replaying the previous night over and over in his mind. Carefully, Harry pulled the needle out of the back of his hand and removed some strange looking patches from his arms before slowly sliding out of bed. His feet touched the cold stone floor, sending sparks of pain up his legs. Gripping the bed for support, Harry slowly walked to the foot of the bed, his body seeming to grow stronger with each step. He closed his eyes and mentally thanked Hogwarts. She knew him too well.

By the time he had walked past the screen, Harry was able to stand without relying on any support. His eyes widened at the amount of occupied beds. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sleeping in a set of beds next to beds occupied by Ron, Ginny and Hermione. None of them appeared to be injured which was a relief. Harry's gaze fell on Bill Weasley across the room. He cringed at the site of Bill's face and immediately felt his legs moving closer.